Catherine's Bete Noire
by ForensicsFreak1988
Summary: Someone important in Catherine's life is missing. How will she deal?
1. Chapter 1

A/N: I've had this one for a while. It doesn't really fit in anywhere in particular (except for the fact that Lindsey's nine) so, where ever you want to put it...Anyways, I know most of you who read what I had up before were like, 'what the heck? why isn't she updating?" I wrote this when I first started writing, and I hadn't been watching CSI for that long, and I hadn't gotten the characters down. I fixed a lot of it, but there are still a lot of inconsistancies. I just figured 'screw it, I'm posting it.'

Catherine's Bete Noire

CSI Catherine Willows rolled over, her strawberry blonde hair falling on her face. She opened her eyes, and watched the sun sink down on the land of casinos. She sighed and slammed the off button on the annoying beep that was her alarm clock. She should be going to sleep like normal people do. Then, she never was one to be normal. Still, she would have liked to not have to sleep during the day and be able to spend time with her 9-year-old daughter, Lindsey instead. That was her one regret about working Graveyard. Don't get her wrong she loved the hell out of her job and certainly didn't want to be back in the strip clubs, but what was wrong with dayshift? She threw her blanket off, sliding out of bed. She needed to do laundry, she realized as she sifted through the meager selection of clothing that resided in her closet. Having put on a navy v-neck sweater and a pair of jeans, she tied her hair into a ponytail as she walked into the living room of her house.

"Mommy!" A 4'3" blue-eyed blonde exclaimed, running over to Catherine and earning a hug.

"Hey babe" Catherine greeted Lindsey, who always seemed to put a smile on her mother's face. "What are you and Samantha working on?" walking over to the coffee table where a pile of crayons and some paper lay.

"I made you a picture mommy. See, It's you, Uncle Gil, Sara, and Nick finding a bad guy. Uncle Gil wouldn't let Warrick work this one."

"Hey, that's cool. Thanks babe." In her mind though, it hurt Cath. Her daughter should be drawing pictures of their trip to a beach or camping or something, not her working. It just proved that Cath needed to spend more time with Lindsey. "You want to go out for dinner tonight? Mommy doesn't feel like cooking." _When does she?_ Catherine wondered.

"YEAH!" Lindsey exclaimed excitedly, bringing a smile to her tired mother's face, again.

"Here you go Sam, you can go enjoy your Friday night." She said handing $30 to the 16-year-old who got Lindsey off the bus and spent a few hours with her until Catherine woke up.

"Oh, I don't know if homework is that fun."

"Homework? Are you kidding? I'd have put it off until Sunday as a teenager. Well, since you don't have any plans, what to join us?"

"I'd like that. I just need to let my mom know where I'll be."

"Go ahead. Tell her I'll give you a ride home afterwards." Samantha nodded as she went into the kitchen to call her mom. Catherine was really glad she'd found Samantha and wanted to show her how much she appreciated her. Catherine went into the bathroom, throwing on some eye shadow and lipstick and combing out her hair leaving it down. When she returned, Samantha had finished her call.

"Ready?" Catherine asked grabbing her purse and her daughter's hand, holding on like it was a lifeline.

30 minutes later, as they sat at a booth in Pizza Hut, Lindsey froze mid bite and buried her face in her mom's shoulder.

"What's wrong babe?" Catherine asked, turning towards her daughter.

"Justin's here." She mumbled into her mother's chest.

"Who?" asked Catherine feeling clueless, why wouldn't her evidence add up?

"Justin!" exclaimed Lindsey like it should be obvious. Catherine who really had no clue looked to Sam for help.

"A boy in her class she has a C-R-U-S-H on, she just doesn't realize it yet." Samantha explained.

"Oh" Catherine said flatly, embarrassed that she didn't know something about her daughter that the babysitter did. She quickly recovered, giving Sam a wink and a mouthed "thanks".

CWCWCWCWCWCW

As she dropped Lindsey off at the night sitters, Catherine felt the familiar tug on her heart. She always hated leaving for work. Sure, she loved her job and her co-workers, but she wanted to spend her time with her daughter.

"Come on babe." Catherine soothed her daughter as she took her out of the car, hugging her tightly, wishing she could stay like this.

"Mommy?" mumbled the sleepy Lindsey, even as she snuggled into her mother's chest.

"Yeah it's me, time to go to Auntie Laura's" Catherine explained as she rang the doorbell.

"Bye Mommy." Linds said as the door opened and her mom handed her over to her "aunt".

"Love you Linds." Catherine bent down to give her daughter a kiss.

"Love you too mommy."

CWCWCWCWCWCW

"Hey Cath, how was your day?" Warrick asked his co-worker as she walked in to the locker room at the beginning of yet another shift.

"Found out that Lindsey doesn't talk to me. She has a crush on this boy at school. The babysitter realized it before I did." Catherine said ruefully as she opened her locker to the pictures of her daughter, which just added to her guilt. She set her stuff down and grabbed the tape she'd thrown into her purse, putting the latest picture under her "Super Mommy" picture. Then she put her stuff in her locker and shut it with a sigh, leaning against the cool metal.

"Looks like she doesn't care if you realized or not." Murmured Warrick, trying to get Cath to smile "Don't beat yourself up over it Cath." Warrick said patting Catherine's shoulder.

"Thanks, but it's not going to help." Catherine said with a smile.

"Wasn't supposed to. Just letting you know that you're being too hard on yourself."

"You know me well." She said with a half smile.

"I should- we spend enough time together." Warrick pointed out before wincing at himself. _Learn to keep your mouth shut Warrick Brown._

CWCWCWCWCW

_Get these to Greg, Get the store security tapes, Ask cashier if he saw anything, Watch tapes… _Sara Sidle rattled off things that she needed to do for a homicide that had gone down in a 7-11 parking lot as she was walking past Grissom's office, an hour and a half later.

"Sara" Grissom called as she walked by.

"Yeah?"

"Tell Catherine I need her in my office ASAP." Grissom said with a certain amount of reluctance.

"Can I tell her why?" Sara had a sneaking suspiciousoin she knew what it was. Grissom would have warned her not to draw conclusions.

"That would kind of defeat the purpose of me calling her in here in the first place." Grissom pointed out.

"Of course." Sara said. _I hope it's not what I think it is. _

Sara found Catherine working a sheet in one of the labs. Her hair pulled back, she had a stubborn look on her face.

"Hey, What's up?"

"Nothing really, I can't find anything on this shirt and I've been working it for 15 minutes."

"Well, then sounds like you could use the break. Gris wants you in his office, ASAP." Sara said.

"ASAP? Wonder what's so important." Mused Catherine with a cocked eye brow.

"I should warn you, it didn't sound good." Sara warned, again hoping it wasn't what she thought it was.

"It never is" murmured Catherine, as she walked out of the room.

"Catherine" greeted Grissom tensely; he was not going to like being the bearer of this news. Especially since it was Catherine he was breaking it to.

"You wanted to talk to me?"

"Shut the door and have a seat." _Sara was right _thought Catherine as she obeyed.

"Brass just called in a homicide."

"Okay, I'm not getting the whole calling me into your office."

"Maybe this will help." Grissom said, handing Catherine a piece of paper reluctantly.

The words jumped out at Catherine like a bad dream- _392 Sterling St.-_

_Oh God no- _"No"  
CWCWCWCWCW

Mwah ha ha ha ha ha! That is more fun then it should be. I'm starting to see why so many authors enjoy it. Though seeing as you can just click the next arrow, I suppose it's not really a cliffie. Don't worry, the dead person is not who Catherine thinks it is.


	2. Chapter 2

Catherine dropped her forehead into her hands as her mind spun out of control. "No, no, no, no, no…"she murmured, shaking her head.

"Catherine…CATHERINE!.. I need you to stay as calm as possible. Lindsey needs you to stay as calm as possible, we're not going to be able to find her if you're not thinking straight." Grissom reasoned, coming around to the front of his desk to kneel in front of Catherine, gently pushing her shoulders back so she would look at him.

"What do you mean find her?" asked Catherine, giving the man she'd trust with her life a suspicious glare.

"You were so busy drawing conclusions that you didn't even realize I didn't say double homicide. Which, might I add is not at all like you. There's only one body."

"Laura" murmured Catherine. Laura Smith was a great friend of Catherine's. She had just recently realized Laura was still in Vegas. "Then where is Lindsey?" Catherine mused.

"I don't know. We need to get over to the scene so we can find out and bring her home."

"Right." Said Catherine, with a visible mental shake.

"Would you rather Sara and I work this one?" asked Grissom with something suspiciously like sympathy.

Catherine shook her head.

"I want to find her and who ever has her." She said with a trace of venom in her voice. _Wouldn't want to be that person _thought Grissom with a smirk.

CWCWCWCWCW

Catherine took a deep breath and ducked under the yellow crime scene tape, something she'd been doing all of her adult life (well, what she'd prefer to think of as her "adult life", which technically had started before the tape-ducking). This time though, she did it with a strong sense of determination. Sure, she put a lot in to every case but, she'd give this one her all. She'd find Lindsey or die trying, but that went without saying. When she opened the door and walked into the living room, she had to brace herself on the coffee table. There lay her friend and mentor, bruised and dead. "God Laura, who did this to you?" Catherine murmured, after she'd recovered and started taking photos.

"Let's find out." Said Grissom, coming up behind her.

"Right. I'm going to have a look around." She replied once she'd caught her breath. Catherine normally didn't scare easily, but Grissom tended to have that effect on people. She made her way to Lindsey's room and looked around. She found signs of a slight struggle and had to smile. On the floor, she found a small tuft of light brown hair that definitely was not Lindsey's. _Thanks babe._ Catherine thanked her daughter, who clearly had given her kidnapper her all. Getting DNA from the hair would make finding her all the more easier, and easier meant quicker. Then, Catherine could get her life back to normal. _Whatever normal is. _As she looked around the room, Catherine realized something that made her heart sink. _Clothes, toys- whoever has her plans on keeping her. _"Damn" she muttered under her breath, as her shoulders dropped.

"That's it Cath- give up on your daughter." Grissom said, amused at the anger that flashed in Catherine's eyes at the mere thought.

"God Gil cut that out, don't you think I have enough to worry about without you sneaking up on me all the time?"

"No. What's so bad?"

"Take a look around- you tell me."

"Damn." Said Grissom when he'd realized what Catherine had realized. As Grissom looked around, he noticed something sticking out from under the pillow. Catherine noticed and watched him open the paper, walking over. "It's yours." He said after he'd glanced at it.

Catherine frowned as she took it and started reading.

_**Dear Catherine,**_

_**I am truly sorry it had to be like this. Killing Laura was not part of the plan. My plan was simply to get Lindsey and have Laura tell you not to worry, she was with me. Seeing her with you it was clear that it was not going to be that easy, she loves you too much. Lindsey is so much more like you than I imagined. She fought, God Cath how she fought.** **I had to gag her.** **You would have been so proud of her**… You bet I am _thought Catherine with a half smile, glancing at the bag with the hair. She didn't like the sound of the gagging comment, though. _**She even tried to get me to have a drink for 'mommy to find me with'. She didn't realize that I didn't care if you knew I had her. In fact, I wanted you to know so you wouldn't worry. I love you too much to put you through that. Yes Cath, I still love you…** To H#! you do! You're really showing me that right now…**But that doesn't matter right now, Besides, I do have to leave now, I only planned on letting you know that Lindsey was safe. **_

_**Love Always,**_

_**Me**_

"No shit she fought." Catherine told the air. "Gil?"

"Yeah?" Grissom responded with a certain amount of concern.

"I know who has her." Catherine said falling back onto the bed.

Ah, but do you? Hee, hee hee hee…(darn. This posting as a complete really takes all the fun out of cliffies.)


	3. Chapter 3

"Catherine? Are you sure?" Gil asked, cautious of the drawing of conclusions.

"Positive." Catherine said, nodding her head.

"Who? Do I know this person?" He asked, curious despite himself.

"Oh, you know who he is, alright. He almost cost me my house."

"Eddie has her?"

Catherine nodded glumly. "He's her father, Gil. We're going to have tread carefully in terms of legality issues." She said, dropping her head into her hands for what felt like the thousandth time that night.

"Are we giving up Catherine?" Gil asked expecting the same reaction he'd gotten before. What shocked and worried him was the calm, almost reluctant way Catherine said

"No."

CWCWCWCWCWCW

"Maybe…"Catherine murmured an hour later as she was examining the broken window that clearly was the point of entry.

"Maybe what Catherine?" Grissom said, once again sneaking up on her.

"Just trying to figure out Eddie's motive," she snapped

"And what would that be?" _God only knows _Catherine thought.

"It's just a theory, but Eddie has a sister. What if she recently told Eddie she was pregnant? He gets to thinking 'maybe I shouldn't have left my kid in such a hurry'. Decides he'll try and find her. Starts at our old house- boom. He found her in a heartbeat. I should have moved." Catherine muttered, angry with herself.

"Catherine look at me- this is NOT your fault. Besides, your theory doesn't explain how Eddie knew who your babysitter was."

"He met Laura a few times and you can find just about anything about almost whoever you want on the Internet these days Gris, it was too easy," Catherine said, her voice rising. With a sigh, she went back to swabbing blood off of the window. Grissom watched in shook as angrily she threw the swab across the room. "This is pointless!" she screamed, "We know who did this! We just don't know where he is. Why aren't we trying to find him, instead of going through the motions of finding out who he is, which we can do after she's home? He gagged her Gil, he gagged her!"

"Catherine. You just threw evidence across the room, it's useless now, get a hold of yourself. We can't prove that he was here and we need that to keep him," Grissom said forcefully. Catherine sighed as she collapsed onto the couch, her eyes filling up with tears.

"I know," she murmured. Grissom sat down next to her, his arm around her shoulder. When she'd collected herself, she smiled her thanks to Grissom.

"I'm sorry Gil, I just want her home. I don't think I collected all of the blood, there's more. Plus we have the hair she ripped out and I found some fibers on the glass," She said with a small, hopeful grin.

"Sorry doesn't cut it. I'm getting Sara on this one."

"Gil come on, I'll be worse if I'm not on it, finding her myself, you must realize that," she begged.

"You know I can't Cath, you can't work this case. You're going home and taking a nap. I'll call Sara so there's still two of us on the case and I'll see you tonight at which time you will take over Sara's case."

"Alright." Catherine consented with a nod, proving, at least to Grissom, how tired she was. "Bring her home for me Gil." She added as she opened the door. To her extreme dismay a surprisingly large flock of reporters made their way over to her. It was the middle of the night for crying out loud.

"Ms. Willows, do you know who has your daughter?"

"Are you worried for your daughter's safety?" As tired, worried and annoyed as she was Catherine had to snicker at that one. _Not a mother, obviously. _Before she could make out any of the other questions, if you could call them that, Grissom, who had noticed what was going on, took a deep breath and whistled, wincing as he turned into the sacrificial lamb. _And once again, Thank god for Gris_ she thought as she unlocked her car door and slid, safely into the driver's seat, leaving Grissom to pest control.

CWCWCWCWCWCW

"Hey you. Did you get any sleep?" asked Warrick when he heard Catherine walk into the locker room. Catherine raised an eyebrow, clearly saying _What do you think?_, but the corners of her mouth turned up in an amused smirk.

"Never mind, I'll take a wild guess," added Warrick jokingly.

"That bad, huh?" Catherine said wryly in response to Warrick's joke.

"Hey. We're gonna find her, Cat. There's not way she's not doing everything in her power to help us. You know that. She is your daughter after all," he pointed out, pulling her into a reassuring hug.

"Thanks 'rick," she said with a sigh. He just shock his head.

Walking in to the break room a few minutes later, she found Sara "What have you two uncovered for me?" She demanded, her mind never far from the fact that her crazed ex- husband had her daughter and she had to get her back.

"Nothing much. Greg's running the hair Lindsey grabbed with the blood you pulled from the window." Sara rattled. "I ran fingerprints I pulled from the doorknob in Lindsey's room, I got one that wasn't Lindsey's or the Vic's. It matched one Grissom got off a knife that he found with trace amounts of blood on it. The blood's with Greg. It'll probably match the Vic's."

"Laura." Catherine muttered flatly

"Huh?"

"The victim's name is…was Laura." Catherine winced at her slip.

"Okay." Sara answered.

"Anything else?"

"Not really."

"Okay, just a hunch, but Eddie was working as an electrician last I checked, so if you run his name through the union database, you should be able to find him. That is, assuming he's with the union," Catherine suggested.

"Thanks, and don't let Grissom catch you at that." Sara muttered.

"At what?" Catherine frowned.

"Making an ass of you and me," Sara smiled at her.

CWCWCWCWCWCW

About fifteen minutes later, Grissom found Catherine with Sara, sitting at one of the database computers.

"…and she clamed up- in front of the entire auditorium. She was so embarrassed. She hasn't touched a key since." Catherine said, telling Sara about Lindsey's brush with a piano recital a year and a half ago. Sara had successfully gotten Catherine calm by having her tell happy Lindsey stories.

"There you two are." He said, walking into the room, giving Catherine a pointed look.

"I'm just keeping Sara company, we're not even talking about the case." _Directly. _Catherine explained to Grissom, who she was sure was worried she was 'contaminating evidence'.

"Good, Sara you can go back to your case now." Grissom said bracing himself for the argument he knew was inevitable.

"What?" said Sara, hoping she hadn't heard him right.

"You can get back to your case." He said in his I'm-the-boss-so-listen-to-me tone of voice.

"Why? Cath can work it solo. I'll be more useful finding Lindsey." Sara said in her I-don't-have-to-listen-to-anyone tone of voice, not really shocking Grissom or Catherine. The former sighed.

"Sara, can I talk to you outside for a minute?" he stated rather than asked, signaling her out of the room and Catherine's earshot. "Look inside that room. She clearly got no more than an hour of sleep. You were able to calm her down. I need you to keep her that way. Understand?"

Sara nodded, Grissom had clearly sensed her questions, and answered them.

"Good. Get 'rick with me, Nick can work the rape case solo, and get back to keeping Catherine sane."

She snapped, making a gun with her thumb and index finger over her shoulder as she strode off down the hall to find Warrick.

CWCWCWCWCWCWCW

A half hour and a trip to the locker room to grab her book later, Catherine sat reading, well really just staring at the pages of said book, with her feet underneath her and her hair tied up so it wouldn't interfere with her "reading". As she was once again kicking herself for throwing the swab across Laura's kitchen, and not anticipating Eddie's "change of heart", and the half a million other stupid things she'd done in her life, the computer beeped at her.

"Finally!" she muttered with an exasperated sigh, as she looked up at the computer screen.

CWCWCWCWCWCWCW


	4. Chapter 4

_No Matches Found._

"Damn it!" Catherine swore, just loud enough for Grissom, who was walking into the room, to hear. Sara who had been reading her own book, winced (out of Grissom's sight) at Catherine.

"Giving up again?" Grissom asked angelically.

"Maybe she's better off with him." Catherine said after thinking about it.

"You going to tell her that? I have a feeling she's wanting "Super Mommy" right now." Grissom said.

"Who died?" muttered Warrick as he came into the room and saw the look of shocked horror on Sara's face, leftover from the 'maybe she's better off with him.'

"More like who didn't." answered Nick, never missing a beat as he joined his collogues.

"I thought you were leaving Nick on the rape case," said Sara, more confused then upset.

"I want Lindsey home, even if no one else does," answered Grissom, with a pointed look at Catherine. The only thing that kept her from lashing out at Grissom was her amusement at the triplet expressions of shock on the faces of the rooms other three occupants.

CWCWCWCWCWCW

Grissom sighed as he paced his office. Warrick had gone back to the scene to see if he could find anything Sara, Catherine, or Grissom himself hadn't found on their two trips to the scene. Nick had gone to see if Doc Robbins had turned up anything on the victim's cause of death. _Laura._ Grissom reminded himself. Not that Catherine would forgive his harsh comment just because he showed a little sympathy, he reminded himself, ruefully. He'd have to apologize soon. He couldn't have Catherine avoiding him like the plague, like she'd been doing for the past hour.

CWCWCWCWCWCW

As Grissom paced his office, Nick walked into the morgue. "Hey, what's the word on the beating victim?" Nick asked by way of greeting.

"Not really anything. Cause of death is blunt force trauma to the heart, stab wound was post mortem."

Nick frowned.

"He stabbed her after she died?" He asked, confused. Doc nodded.

"He had a grudge or something."

"That doesn't really make sense."

"Well, that's how she reads." Doc said with a shrug.

"Okay, keep us in the loop." Nick said, turning to leave.

CWCWCWCWCWCW

Catherine herself walked into the morgue only 15 minutes after Nick had left.

"Hey Doc, what have you got for me on the 7-11 vic?"

"Cause of death, gunshot wound to the head, tattoo on the inside of her thigh."

She nodded, "We'll talk to the boyfriend, see if our missing person had one, thanks," she said, turning to leave.

"Catherine?"

She turned around.

"What grudge could Eddie have had against the victim in Nick's case?"

She frowned "None, that I know of. Why?"

"The stab wound was post mortem."

She shrugged. "I'll think about it." She said, again, turning to leave, and subconsciously dropping her shoulders.

"Catherine, they'll find her, they're good."

"I know," she said with a smile to Doc Ribbons.

CWCWCWCWCWCW

By the end of shift, Catherine was thoroughly exhausted. She sighed as she walked into the break room. To her annoyance Grissom was sitting in a chair, reading a _Forensic Science _magazine. She glared at him, quickly diverting her eyes and making a beeline to the coffee machine. As she poured her breakfast, Grissom spoke.

"Look Catherine… I… I'm sorry." He said, his voice low. She turned to face him. Whatever she expected to find it his eyes, what she did find was not it. Nothing could have suggested she would find the amount of concern/pain/hope that was in Grissom's eyes. She had been prepared to bitch him out, but she swallowed her words, instead saying softly,

"I know that, but that doesn't mean it doesn't hurt."

"I...look…Catherine…"He paused, trying to find his words. But he couldn't. "Can I make you breakfast?"

She thought about it, She had planned to log some over time, as she did often, and some of her wanting to stay mad. She just didn't have the strength. She nodded.

CWCWCWCWCWCW

Grissom, surprisingly, was the first to break the silence, unusual for him.

"Catherine?" He said, steeling himself.

"Yeah?"

"I don't know why I said that to you. But I do know this. I'm worried sick and I can't do a damn thing about it. I can't let my emotions get in the way. I guess I'm just on a tight fuse right now… maybe I was even scared that you were scared. I don't know why, I just know I didn't mean it, and I'm sorry."

"I know that, I think I knew that when you said it. It just hurt to think about the fact that I would have given up on her."

"I know and I'm sorry." Catherine had to smile.

"You've said that… what, three times now?" She teased. He gave her a genuine smile. "I don't know why I reacted like I did, I guess I'm on a short fuse too. I'm sorry" She fought to keep back tears. All she needed was for Grissom to see her cry-again. His smile was replaced with a look of concern.

"No. It's okay." Grissom interrupted, having none of her apology. She smiled at him.

"How's a no-good, ex-stripper like me deserve a friend like you?" She asked ruefully.  
"How's a hard-working, loving mother like you deserve an ex- husband like Eddie?" He shot back. They ate the rest of their cold breakfast in quiet, mostly because Catherine was exhausted.

"I better go home now, thanks for breakfast and being there for me…"Catherine thanked her host. He nodded in understanding. "The house could use a cleaning before I have to go back to work." She added, sighing at the thought.

"Don't forget the sleeping in between all that house work." Grissom said, if not the sigh then the exhaustion written on her face concerning him. She nodded as she strode out the door. When she got home, she thought about Gil's last comment as she put the mop away and crawled into bed. _Maybe I could use the sleep._


	5. Chapter 5

The sleep, it turned out, did Catherine good. As she was eating her dinner, she thought of something that made her want to scream. Why hadn't she thought to try that before? She could kick herself. Getting up and walking over to the kitchen drawer she kept bills and important papers in, she opened it. Thumbing through it until she found what she was looking for, she pulled out her old address book. Flipping pages quickly she, again found what she was in search of. Dialing the number, Catherine prayed she would be home. _Ringgg… Ringgg… Ringgg…_

"_Hello?"_

"Jenna? This is Catherine."

"Cathie! What the heck have you been up to since you snapped out of it and divorced my dope of a brother? You were always too good for him."

"As would be anyone. Speaking of Eddie, have you heard from him lately?" Catherine asked, she was beginning to remember why she'd liked Eddie's much more logical sister.

"About a week ago, at my 'baby shower', it was more like a family reunion of sorts."

"Congratulations," Catherine said good-naturedly _I love being right_.

"_Thanks, what's Eddie done now?"_

"Decided I wasn't using Lindsey and he wanted her."

"You serious? Even Eddie can't be that stupid."

"Oh believe me, he can."

"My god, what an a he is. I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault. So, what's Eddie been up to?"

"I get it, you have no idea where Eddie ran off to when you kicked him out and you're hoping I do."

"Something like that," Catherine admitted.

"As a matter of fact I do, Dallas Texas, 45 Lake St. Bitch him out for me."

"Thanks Jenna, next time you're out in Vegas, stop by. After all, we're kind of sister's-in-law, even if it is the one of the only good things that came out of my stupidity." _Besides Lindsey_

"Will do, give Linds a hug for me. After you show Eddie what for."

"Bye"

"Bye" 

_Dallas, Texas. _Catherine thought with a smile, dialing another number, this one on her cell's speed dial.

"Nick Stokes."

"Hey Nicky."

"Cath, What's up?" 

"Nothing much. Just wondering, when's the last time you went home for a visit?"

"Umm... a year ago, maybe longer. Where's this going?" 

"Don't you think it's about time you went to visit your family?" Catherine smiled, not answering Nick's question.

"Are you serious, you want me to go home in the middle of your daughter's missing…wait, I think I know where this is going. You think Griss will let you work the case if I'm gone."

"Don't insult me Nick. Even I'm not that stupid."

"_Then where is this going?"_ Nick repeated, genuinely confused- understandably.

Catherine milked it a little longer, before she spilled.

"I just got off the phone with Eddie's sister. She happens to know where her 'dope-of-a-brother' went after I kicked him out. 45 Lake St., Dallas, Texas." Catherine could hear the smile in Nick's voice as he said,

"You know Catherine, I think you're right. I should go home for a visit- today."

CWCWCWCWCWCW

Catherine slammed her locker shut. How many times had she been in there and she'd forgotten the pictures were there. How did the saying go? You don't know what you've got 'til you lose it. She buried her face in her hands, hiding from the world. The arm around her shoulder startled her, but she knew who it was. He was always there for her.

"I want her home, 'rick. And Grissom won't even let me go with you guys," she stated, her eyes moist.

"We'll find her Cath. Me and Nicky'll bring her home." She nodded, smiling at Warrick.

"I know. Just try and do it quickly." She said ruefully.

"Will do" Warrick said, his face serious.

"I feel like such a idiot," Catherine said, rubbing her face before resting her chin in them. "A nine-year-old should not have this much control over someone."

"She's a special nine year old," He said only half- joking. "Look Catherine there's nothing wrong with worrying about your daughter. It doesn't make you weak. Understand?" he added, kneeling in front of her and forcing her to look him in the eye. She nodded. He hugged Catherine before standing up, closed his locker, gentler than Catherine had and turning to leave.

"Our flight is at 5am, thought you might want to know. I'll call you at least once a day." She nodded.

"Thanks. Hey, you guys need a ride? It's the least I can do."

"I'll ask Nick, I'd like that."

"Okay, I'll pick you up at three, and we'll get Nicky and go eat breakfast. My treat."

He nodded. " That'd rock."

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Nick Stokes sighed.

"What the hell are we going to do when we get there?" He asked. "We know absolutely nothing about this guy, other than he was married to Cath. Do we just go in and steal Lindsey back?" An angelic smile pulled the corners of Warrick's mouth.

"No we don't." Warrick allowed. If Nick hadn't known better, he would have sworn he was talking to Grissom.

"And do we know what we do?" Nick pried. Warrick's smile grew.

"Yes, we do."

"And what would that be?" Nick asked, exasperated. Warrick pulled a piece of paper out of his carry-on (his field kit).

"We get a sample of our suspect's hand writing." He said after handing the paper to Nick. His smile, if possible, grew. "And dust it for prints." Nick smiled; always give a suspect the option of cooperating. He had a hunch, however, this suspect would be a door number two type.

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"Nicky!" Nick's 17- year-old sister ran up to him. He'd called his parents, letting them know he'd be in town. They had, apparently, taken that to mean they were to pick him up at the airport. He gave the 5'3" hazel-eyed, brunette a hug. She was, after all, his little sis.

"Mom. Dad. You didn't have to pick us up." He said giving his parent's a hug each.

"Us?" His dad asked, confused.

"Warrick Brown, Mr. Stokes. I'm a colleague of Nick's. We're actually here on an unofficial business trip."

"I see. You'll have to explain over lunch, assuming you're like my son and always hungry."

"Oh, I don't think I'm that bad, Mr. Stokes, but right now happens to be one of those times when I am."

"Please, George." Nick's father said with a smile.

The purpose for their visit was indeed discussed over lunch at Chili's. Mrs. Stokes insisted on helping them in anyway possible, being a mother, after all. The rest of the day was spent relaxing and enjoying the hospitality of their hosts. Nick and Warrick, although guilty about relaxing when Catherine was most likely losing sleep (an accurate assumption as it turns out), reasoned that they couldn't really get much done anyway.

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Nick Stokes opened his eyes and smiled. God it was good to wake up to the smell of coffee. He got up, and threw on some jeans and a t-shirt. It was no later than 6 but Nick, used to Graveyard, was wide-awake. He walked downstairs, smiling when he saw who the other person up was.

"The two jet-lagged members of the household are the first two up. Could only be Graveyard workers." Warrick smiled.

"Help yourself to coffee and eggs. Still hot."

"God I wish I could stay for a while. I'm not anxious to go back to having to make my own breakfast."

"You need a girl," Warrick teased with a laugh.

"Who needs a girl?" asked Nick's mom, walking into the kitchen.

"Warrick, mom"

"Mrs. Stokes, your son forgets I have a girl." Warrick teased, unable to keep a straight face at the look of confusion on Nick's face. "And at the moment…" he checked his watch " … She's most likely driving Grissom up the wall." He cleared up for Nick. Though his words were teasing, his tone had a somber note to it. They were both aware that Catherine was counting on them and they'd have to skip the country if they couldn't bring Lindsey home. No pressure guys..

Nick, however, was not about to let that ruin his relaxing, albeit brief, visit with his family.

"Warrick forgets I have a girl." This caught Mrs. Stoke's attention. " And she is most likely the one whose hair Warrick's girl is in." Nick bragged, his posture clearly screaming "So there!"

Warrick raised his eyebrows.

"Does Sara know you talk about her like that?"

"Does Catherine?" Not much else was said as they finished their breakfast in peace. (Well, quiet anyway).

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Sara was indeed the one whose hair Catherine was in. The latter paced the locker room, having, with Sara's help, put a gang leader up for the homicide they had been working and having nothing left to do but wait. She opened her locker, pulled out her book, and sat down next to Sara, who was already reading. However, she couldn't sit still for long and with an exasperated sigh put the book back. "I'm going to take a walk" she said, giving Sara, who at this point was sick of dealing with Catherine, a mock glare when she muttered "Good". Leaving the locker room, Catherine ran a few options through her head, trying to decide what to do, where to go. She could go bug Grissom, but that probably wasn't the best idea in the world. After some time, she decided on bugging Greg who would, most likely, be too polite to say anything.

"Hey, Greg, got anything on the hair Lindsey pulled?"

"I've had something on that for 2 nights, where have you been?" He teased- not the best idea. Though, to give Greg credit, Catherine did smile.

"Ask Grissom, so?" She "hinted".

"Male"

"Which we got from the length." She sighed.

"Get me samples to compare it to and I'll do better." She nodded.

"Warrick and Nick are doing that now- they're in Dallas, Eddie's sister gave me an address for her 'dope-of-a-brother'" She added when Greg looked confused.

"I thought you weren't on this case." Greg teased again.

"Greg- you have got to know me better than that." She smiled.

"I do." He admitted, turning back to his work. Catherine, who, unlike some people she knew, could take a hint, turned to leave. But his voice stopped her. "Hey Cat?" She turned back.

"We'll find her." She decided to overlook the fact that he'd called her 'Cat'. "Thanks Greg."


	6. Chapter 6

Grissom found Catherine towards the end of shift. In the morgue, she was pestering Doc. Ribbons.

"Hey Cath, you may as well take tomorrow night off, get some sleep, do what ever you need to do around the house."

Looking at him as if she'd seen a ghost, she replied simply, "Yeah, okay, but just to let you know I plan on taking a few nights off when Lindsey gets home." He nodded, glad that she hadn't mentioned the argument they'd had when he'd refused to let her go to Dallas. _If she's not gonna bring it up, I'm not _he thought as he turned to go. She followed him.

"Gil?" he said nothing but turned to look at her, a signal to continue. "I'm sorry about yesterday. Like I said I'm on a short fuse." She said apologetically. He nodded.

"It's okay."

She nodded. They walked together in peace until Grissom turned into his office and Catherine continued towards the locker room to grab her things and head home.

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Back in Texas, Warrick and Nick had packed coffee and hopped into the car. They were now in search of 45 Lake St. Since they had a local who knew his way around, it didn't take long.

"This is it. Ready to go get Lindsey?" said local asked Warrick. He didn't say anything, but let his expression scream _Try and Stop me. _Getting out of the car they calmly walked up to the door and rang the doorbell. They got the shock of a lifetime when a familiar 4'3" blonde opened the door. She seemed scared but otherwise unharmed.

"Hello young lady, is your mommy or daddy home?" Warrick asked, kneeling down so she could see Nick behind him who had his finger to his lips in the universal language for 'Shhh…'.

She nodded meekly; she was defiantly scared, and opened the door wider.

"Who is it, Sweet…" asked a 6'2" dark- haired man, walking in to the room. He trailed off when he saw them, obviously confused (or at least playing confused).

"I don't know daddy." Lindsey muttered, having gotten Nick's message.

"I know, why don't you go play in your room?"

"But, I don't…"

"Go play in your room. Now." He said a little too firmly. She reluctantly obeyed.

"Sir I'm Timmy Loper, and this is Jerome Finney, we're crime scene investigators. Do you mind if we ask you a few questions?" Nick asked, extending his hand.

"Actually sir, I'd also like to ask your daughter a few questions." Warrick stated. Nick shot him a look that begged_ Are you crazy?_ Warrick simply smiled angelically and added, "It won't take long."

"You can ask me anything you like, but I'm going to have to ask you not to bother my daughter."

Warrick sighed but said, "Okay, just thought I'd try."

Sitting down, Eddie was the first to speak.

"You know something funny." He paused. "My Ex- wife's a CSI. In Vegas. Maybe you know her, Catherine Willows?" Nick shook his head, Warrick nodded.

"Met her at one of the conferences I went to. Seemed kind of nice." Warrick explained. Nick had to stop himself from rolling his eyes.

"A royal pain in the behind actually," Eddie muttered, and Warrick had to stop himself from cracking up.

"Sir, do you know a Herman Lester?" Nick asked, starting a pointless and completely fictional interrogation. After a few minutes Warrick interrupted.

"Sir do you mind if I use your bathroom quickly?" he asked, earning another glare from Nick. Eddie thought about a minute, and then nodded.

"Second door on the right." He said. Warrick started down the hall. Looking back in to the living room to make sure Eddie wasn't looking, He slipped in to the door across from the bathroom.

"Uncle Warrick! Daddy came and took me… and …and." Lindsey started.

"Shh…I know, look sweetie, Me and Uncle Nick can't take you home now, we have to get what's called an arrest warrant. Do you know what that is?" He asked, keeping his voice low. She nodded, her shoulders dropping.

"It's a piece of paper that you need before you can arrest somebody." following his lead and keeping her voice low. _She's her mother's daughter alright, _Warrick thought smiling. It was his turn to nod.

"Exactly. I have to get back, I told your father I was in the bathroom, I just wanted to tell you why we weren't taking you with us." He explained hugging the little girl tightly.

"Is Mommy here?"

"No, Gris doesn't want her to make a mistake in her rush to get you home. You want me to tell her something when I call her tonight?"

"Tell her I want to be home and to not feel bad. I only told Sam about Justin cause she told me about this boy on the bus who bugs her."

Warrick didn't know what that was about, but he nodded.

"I almost forgot. She says she loves you and is very proud of you for fighting your dad."

He went to the door listening to make sure that Nick and Eddie were talking. They were and he quietly opened the door and slipped out. Coming in to the living room, he saw that Nick was getting Eddie's writing sample, and already had in his hand the DNA swab and the fingerprints.

"We're almost ready to go" Nick stated.

"Any more?" Eddie asked.

"Just one: Laura." Eddie shot him a questioning look. "Laura was Herman's wife's name. She was kidnapped for ransom." They could tell Eddie was suspicious but he wrote it down anyway before handing the paper over to Nick.

"Thank you sir, this will clear up the confusion that has apparently occurred and you will be able to get on with your life."

"Thank you. I appreciate it."

Warrick and Nick exchanged glances that clearly said_ Is this guy really this dumb,_ but they sbit their tongues. As they climbed into the car, they couldn't take it any more. They both looked at each other and burst into laughter.

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As they were driving back to Nick's, Warrick thought of something and pulled out his cell phone hitting number two on speed dial, Grissom was number one.

"_Catherine Willows"_ said a familiar, sleepy, voice.

"Hey Cath, What's up?"

"_No, what's up there?"_ The voice was now wide-awake.

"Nothing much, but I can tell you what's going down, or rather who." Warrick teased. Nick just shook his head.

"_Come on War."_ The voice said, exasperated. _"I'm too tired for this. Give."_

"Alright, alright. Gesh, can't a guy have any fun?" Warrick teased, in mock exasperation.

"Warrick!" 

"Fine, We got Eddie's prints, DNA, and handwriting."

"You talked to Eddie? Did you see Linds? Is she okay? Do you have her?…" Catherine rattled, not once stopping for breath. 

"One question at a time. Yes, we talked to Eddie. Yes, we saw your daughter. Yes she is fine, but no we do not have her. You know as well as I do that we need more to go on before we do that."

"_I know. Thanks for keeping me in the loop." _She said, ready to hang up.

"Wait, Cath. I need a favor. Have Gil call the Dallas Lab; tell them we need their laboratory. Have Greg fax the fingerprints and the DNA printout to them ASAP."

"_Will do."_

"Oh, and Lindsey says she only told Sam about Justin because Sam told her something about this kid on the bus who was bugging her, so don't feel bad. I don't know what that means, but that's what she said, besides she loves you too." Nick at this point had rewarded Warrick with another glare, who'd mouthed '_in a sec._'. There was an obvious catch in Catherine's voice when she said _"Thanks War. That's something I needed to know… It's amazing how well she reads my moods." _She added, more to herself then to Warrick.

"Bye Cath."

"_Bye."_

Warrick hung up. When he remained silent, Nick asked "Well?".

He replied simply, "You honestly believed I needed to use the bathroom?" Nick was silent. He hadn't.

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When they got to Nick's parent's house, they had a message wanting for them.

"The Dallas PD, Criminalistics Unit called. They're glad they can be of help to the number two Crime Lab in the country."

"Thanks Lauren. Tell Mom and Dad not to wait up for us." Nick said, giving his sister a kiss on the head as he did a u-turn and headed out the door trailing Warrick, who was already half way across the yard. When the arrived at the lab, they were immediately directed to the office of Dallas's version of Ecklie, only nicer. "You must be the guys from Vegas. Peter Aaron, dayshift supervisor here in Dallas. Now what specifically can I do for you two?"

"I'm Nick Stokes, this is Warrick Brown, We're sorry for any inconviences it may cause, but we'd like to use your DNA lab."

"Not a problem. Be good for my guys and girl to see some real CSIs at work." Warrick smiled.

"Thank you very much, Mr. Aaron. How quickly can we get to work?" He asked.

"You show me, and it's Peter." Warrick was starting to like this guy. He followed Nick out the door, field kit containing the letter to Catherine, and samples from Eddie, in hand. Quickly, they got to work.

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With in a half an hour, Dallas's Jaqui had matched the fingerprints Greg had faxed to Eddie's and the QD lab had matched the handwriting. Going in search of Peter, they found him in what looked like the break room.

"Can we find a judge who'll give us a search warrant?" Warrick asked once they'd told him what they'd found. He knew the answer though.

"No." He confirmed. "But Heidi Baker will give Becky here one. Becky, overtime?" He asked a red head who had walked in on their conversation

"The story of my life, why not. What gives?" She asked. Warrick was sure he'd like her too.

"This nice fellows have themselves a problem. They have enough evidence to get an arrest, but they're not in their jurisdiction."

"Rebecca Hathaway. You can call me Becky." She said extending her hand.

"Warrick Brown, That's Nick Stokes. We're from Vegas."

"So you're the ones that took our lab hostage. Stokes? Do I know your family?" She asked, more to herself.

"George and Patty. Lauren's 17." Nick offered.

"I do, Lauren watches my 5-year-old, Nicole."

"So you're a working mother. Then you may just help us." Warrick started, explaining more in depth their situation.

"That I will. Let's go get that warrant," Becky said with a certain determination in her voice that reminded Warrick of Catherine.

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An hour later, the three CSIs stood, once again, on the doorstep of 45 Lake St. This time Eddie answered.

"Oh, it's you again, I thought you got everything you wanted before."

"Actually we needed an arrest warrant. This is our colleague Rebecca Hathaway. May we come in?" Becky looked confused but want along with it. Eddie thought about it, came to the accurate conclusion that he had no choice, and opened the door wider, letting them in.

"I'll go get Lindsey, you two can fill him in," Warrick took over. The other two nodded their agreement. Warrick heard Eddie demand to know "What's going on?", as he headed towards the room Eddie'd set up as 'Lindsey's'

"Did you get the arrest warrant?" Lindsey asked quietly, not looking up from the dolls she was playing with. Warrick smiled.

"We sure did sweetie. Your mommy says she misses you lots." Lindsey turned toward him, and he could have sworn his heart broke.

"I miss her, too. And, Sammy, and… and…Auntie Laura…" Lindsey said tears coming to her eyes. Warrick pulled her to him, smoothing her hair as she cried.

"Shh…Baby, shh…" After surprisingly short time, she pulled away.

"My Daddy's a bad man. He hits me Uncle Warrick. See?" She said matter of factly, showing him a horrible bruise on her back.

"Honey, you're coming with us now. You're safe. We need to have you examined by a doctor, but there's no way you're not going home to your mom," he assured her, anger racing through his veins. Taking her into the living room Warrick told Eddie, "Mr. Willows, we're going to have to take your daughter in to be examined by a doctor to be sure, but I can promise you she won't be in your custody any longer if it's the last thing I do."

"WHAT!" He exclaimed. "I assure you, she's perfectly healthy."

"Except for the bruises she has on her back. Right Lindsey?"

Eddie must have missed the fact that Warrick knew her name, because he immediately knelt down in front of Lindsey, every inch the concerned father.

"Bruises? Honey, who did this to you?" Lindsey looked at Warrick. He reached down and picked up her hand, giving her the support she seeked.

"You" She said, a surprising amount of venom in her voice.

"Honey, don't lie. Who ever…"

"I'm not lying for you anymore. I don't have to. I'm going back home to Mommy," interrupted Lindsey. With Warrick holding her hand she could do anything.

"I said don't lie!" He said through clenched teeth. Raising his hand, he prepared to hit her.

"I would warn you not to do that." Becky said, grabbing his wrist, the venom in her voice rivaling Lindsey's own. Eddie relaxed, perhaps because he knew he was caught, perhaps because he could think of nothing better to do. Whatever the reason, Becky sensed it and let go. Quick as lighting he raised his hand again. However quick he was, he was not quick enough for Becky. In the blink of an eye, she had out smarted him and had him down on the floor. However, he was strong and she was not. "Take him." She told Nick, who had at this point come into the living room. Getting her gun out and handing it to Nick, she pulled out her cell. Warrick had, at this point gotten in between Eddie and Lindsey, who was obviously shaken. Within minutes, a uniformed cop had been let in by Becky and was handcuffing Eddie. Becky sighed and shook her head. "Lindsey, go get your things. We're getting you out of here." Lindsey smiled at her and obeyed, helped by Warrick.

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As they climbed in to the car, Warrick thought of something he needed to do and pulled out his cell phone.

"Willows" 

"Hello, Cath. I have someone here who would like to talk to you." He said winking at Lindsey before handing her the phone. Before Catherine could work out what was going on, a fimiliar voice was on the phone. The pain in her daughter's voice was almost more than she could bear.

"Mommy! Daddy hit me… and… and he… killed Auntie Laura, mommy, he killed Auntie Laura…" She said in between sobs. However pained Catherine was, she was still the mother.

"_Shh… Baby… I know. Shhh…You're safe now honey. You're safe with Uncle Warrick and Uncle Nicky…" _she soothed her daughter.

"And Becky," Lindsey said, offering the CSI, who was holding her and soothing her hair, a weak smile.

"Who?" 

"She's a SCI here, mommy."

"_A Dallas CSI?"_ Catherine corrected.

Lindsey nodded, and then realizing her mother couldn't see her, said, "Yeah. She's nice, I like her." That earned her a smile from the woman, who now had her arms around Lindsey.

"_Cool. Can I talk to Uncle Warrick again." _Catherine was glad her daughter had a female watching out for her.

"Okay Mommy."

"_Love you lots and lots Babe." _

"Love you too mommy."

"…_We lock him up, We lock him up good. We make sure he never gets out. No, You know what, we skip that and just knock his brains out…" _Catherine was ranting when Warrick put the phone to his ear again. He laughed.

"No, we settle for locking him up Cath." Becky laughed.

"_Okay, I guess that would be the best idea, wouldn't it?"_ Catherine said reluctantly.

"Yeah you think?"

"How'd you get Linds?" 

"She told you herself. He was hitting her."

"_I'll show him hitting," _Catherine seethed.

"Be my guest. First we have to bring him to Vegas. Which, by the way, we should be able to do soon. Just waiting for the DNA match."

"_Good, tell it to hurry up."_

"You'll have your daughter back in at least a day or so. Likely two."

"_Not soon enough."_ Becky and Catherine muttered at the same time.


	7. Chapter 7

Catherine Willows hung up her phone with a sigh of relief she was sure Nick and Warrick in Dallas could hear. She quietly set the dish she was washing down and walked to her bedroom, throwing herself onto her bed in exhaustion as she sobbed into her pillow.

When she woke up, she glanced at her clock, and shot bolt upright. Gil was going to kill her! Then, she remembered that he had told her to take the night off. Having calmed down, she got up, dressed, and finished the dishes she'd so quickly abandoned. Which, she noticed ruefully, didn't take long without LindseyWalking into the living room, she turned on the TV. _Boring…boring…boring_ With a sigh, she went over to the video collection. The only problem with that was that most of them were Lindsey's. Feeling silly, she picked out _Finding Nemo_, and put it in. She was surprised at how much she related to Marlin's character, even chuckling softly as Nemo defied his father's orders to "look both ways", or check for larger fish before exiting the eneminy.

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She was glad she'd kept the check from Sam. It would come in handy when she paid for them. Them being the round trip ticket to Dallas, and the return trip ticket (for Lindsey). Yes, she was going to Dallas. To hell with what Gil says. She wasn't planning on compromising evidence. Besides, it was her day off. Gil couldn't honestly say anything if she went to visit "friends in Dallas" could he? _We'll find out_ she thought, pulling her cell out before sitting down in her seat. She hit 1 on the speed dial.

"Gil Grissom." Said a familiar voice.

"Guess who Nick and Warrick found."

"I don't do guesses Cath. You know that." She rolled her eyes. Of course he would take the obviously rhetorical question literally.

"Yeah. I'm taking the next few nights."

"Okay, I'll call you if I really need you to fill in for Nick and Warrick."

"Actually…" She said, bracing herself for his wrath. Grissom sighed.

"Just don't get involved in the investigation. Go, get Lindsey and come back. Sin City is better off if it's not just me and Sara." He pointed out. She hung up, her mind wandering back to the fact that her daughter was still not home safely. Her eyes filled up with tears as she dropped her head into her hands, attracting, she was sure, glances from the other passengers. Right now, however, she didn't care. She just wanted life to be simple. No having to fly half way across the country. No having to worry that your ex-husband was hurting your daughter. No having to worry that your daughter actually wanted to get away from you and most certainly, no being worried that despite the evidence against him, you wouldn't be able to take your daughter away from the father who hurt her.

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Pulling the rental car into the house, she sighed. This was it- the moment of truth. Walking up to the door, she knocked.

"Hi, I'm…" She started when a female she didn't know answered. She was interrupted by a blonde blur that almost knocked Becky over trying to get to her.

"Mommy!"

"Catherine." Becky finished with a laugh as Lindsey clung to Catherine. Catherine just nodded as she hugged her daughter and smoothed her hair.

"Somewhere, there is a verrryyy pissed Grissom," joked Nick when he saw who was on his parents' doorstep. Warrick just smiled. Standing up, though still clinging to her daughter's hand, Catherine followed suit.

"Yeah, there would be one of those somewhere in the world." Catherine replied as her daughter dragged her inside.

"So, what'd you just skip out on shift?" Nick asked with a confused expression.

"Insulting me again Stokes? Of course not. Grissom suggested taking the night off."

"So what, this was all Grissom's idea?" Warrick asked, disbelievingly. He glanced at Nick.

"Yeah-Right." They chorused sarcastically.

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"No daddy! Not Auntie Laura…No! I don't want to go!" Instantly the light flicked on it the spare bedroom that Lindsey was staying in and Catherine flew to her daughter's side.

"Shhhh… baby. Mommy's here. Daddy's not going to hurt you." She murmured, running her fingers through her baby's blonde hair, a surge of extreme anger running through her body. Lindsey sobbed into her mother's shoulder, as Becky, receiving a smile from Catherine, joined them. When Lindsey had calmed down a bit, Becky handed her a glass of water.

"Linds, I'm going to go get my pillow, you stay here with Becky a sec, okay?" Lindsey nodded and Catherine quickly returned with her pillow and a blanket.

"Thanks, you don't have to stay up." Catherine told the red head.

"You sure?" Becky asked, continuing when Catherine nodded. "Night Lindsey, you going to be okay?" Lindsey nodded, smiling at her new friend. Becky kissed her forehead and turned to leave.

"Daddy's different Mommy. He's mean now."

"Yeah, but you know what?" Catherine asked as she returned to her post next to Lindsey.

"What?"

"You don't have to deal with him anymore." She said, repeating Becky's gesture of affection before getting up to turn off the light. Climbing back into bed, Catherine hugged her daughter, breathing in her peaches and cream shampoo.

**Two weeks later….**

The evidence against Eddie was enough to get him a life sentence, without parol. And so, it was with a slightly relaxed tone that Catherine, Lindsey, and Warrick, who was along on Lindsey's orders, found themselves eating breakfast at a small diner off the Strip, gearing up for a fun filled day at Six Flags.

"Uncle Gil!" Lindsey shouted, receiving a scolding look from her mother. They were, after all, in a diner. Never the less, she ran up to Grissom, giving him a hug. Gil, for his part, recovered nicely and actually hugged her back. "Guess what!"

"What?" said Grissom with a smile, saving the 'I don't do guesses' line for his team.

"I got to ride in an airplane. My ears kind of hurt now though."

"That's because when the air pressure…"

"I know Uncle Gil. Mommy told me." Catherine must have been more shocked than she realized at her daughter interrupting her boss because she, for one, didn't remember that conversation.

"Hey Linds, I think I know someone who wanted to go ride the roller coasters. Do you remember who?" Catherine teased her daughter.

"Me Silly!"

"You Silly?"

"Yeah!"

"Okay, why don't you and Uncle Warrick go meet Mommy out in the car? I just have to pay for breakfast and then we can go."

"Yay!" exclaimed a very excited Lindsey.

"Sorry. She's a little excited. Plus she slept the whole plane ride but don't tell her that." Catherine told her boss, rolling her eyes a little.

"Don't worry about it. Have a great time with your daughter, Cath. I hear Six Flags has some pretty good rides." Catherine wondered if all this man did all day was study facts. Suddenly, she got an idea.

"Have any plans for today?" Gil looked at her like she'd grown a couple extra heads but shook his. "Why don't you come with us? I mean I'm sure roller coasters aren't really your thing, but… " Catherine trailed off, sure she'd gone completely mental. Now he looked at her as if her extra heads had grown extra heads. After a while he responded

"Umm…I wouldn't want to intrude. Today was supposed to be about Lindsey. But thanks for the offer."

"Which is why I want you to come too. How often does she get to see you?"

At that moment Lindsey popped back into the diner.

"Are you coming Mommy?" She asked, exasperated. Catherine looked at Grissom.

"Fine. But only for Lindsey." Catherine arched an eyebrow.

Three and a half hours, and a half a dozen roller coasters later, Grissom, Catherine, Warrick and Hyper Bunny sat at a little café in Six Flags.

"I liked the really fun one, Uncle Gil, did you?"

"Yeah." Gil gave. Catherine laughed.

"Me too." She said, exchanging glances with Grissom. Suddenly Lindsey froze.

"Mommy, I'm going to the bathroom."

"Okay, but go to that one so I can keep an eye on you," she said, pointing out one about a yard away. Lindsey rolled her eyes, but headed towards it none-the-less. Her eyes on her daughter, Catherine watched her approach a strange family, sitting 4 tables down. Starting to get up, something about the way Lindsey talked to the boy, who was about her age, made Catherine stop. Then she got it. _Justin._ Catherine smiled, glancing at Warrick, who, she noticed, was also on the edge of his seat, prepared the follow her. He stared at her blankly, well questioning really. Ignoring that, she turned back to her daughter, filled with a strange sense of pride. _My daughter's braver than I am. Yep, life is definitely back to normal._

_**Scene.**_


End file.
